Gardening's young blood

The new generation of horticultural professionals is taking over B.C.'s gardening industry

Gardener Jordan McDonald, 24, and his mother, Lori Wotherspoon, have started KJM Country Gardens in Vancouver.

Photograph by: Les Bazso
, PNG

Miles Hunter well remembers his introduction to horticulture as a young boy hanging out at the garden centre owned by his dad in Surrey.

"I earned my allowance by pulling weeds or standing up trees blown down in the wind.

"I graduated to bagging potting soil. I also tagging hundreds of rose bushes for a penny a tag."

Eight years ago, at the age of 29, Miles took over the family business -Dave Hunter Garden Centre at 152nd Street in Surrey.

In doing so, Miles became the third generation to run the business, which was started by his grandfather, David, in the 1950s and then run by his father, Ron, for more than 30 years.

But Miles is also part of B.C.'s new generation of horticultural professionals -people who have either grown up in the gardening industry and taken over the business their parents started, or have started their own business, or are patiently waiting in the wings, learning the ropes, and getting ready to take over when their parents retire.

This new wave of young green thumbs has injected fresh energy into an industry that has been struggling in recent years with difficult new economic conditions as well as unpredictable and punishing weather patterns.

Regardless of the challenges, the new breed of horticultural specialists is defining itself by an eagerness to seize opportunities with enthusiasm and find creative and innovative ways to re-energize the gardening business.

One thing all the members of this generation of young bloods have in common is that they see the future as bright and full of exciting possibilities.

At the David Hunter Garden Centre, Miles has not completely cut the ties with his parents.

Ron, his dad, still helps out and offers advice. "If there is nothing for him to do, he goes home," says Miles, who also continues to employ his mom in the store's office.

But since he took over the business, there has been a string of springs with cool weather, causing a slump in sales throughout the industry during the traditional peak months of April and May.

"I have really valued the fact that I still have access to my dad's business experience and memories of past seasons.

"This spring, for instance, has been tough. Six weeks of sunshine is obviously better for us than six weeks of rain. But I think I am less discouraged than others might be because I have my dad around to remind me of difficult years he went through and my grandfather went through in the past and how they got through them."

One change Miles has introduced is better use of computer technology to track point-of-purchase sales and to provide an instant check on inventory.

He has also set up a first-rate website for the garden centre, offering a wide range of gardening information, as well as customer support.

Having grown up on the nursery started by her father in 1973, Rebecca intuitively knew a lot about plants and the gardening business.

However, when she graduated from Simon Fraser University, she initially pursued a career in education as a highschool teacher. She tried it, but didn't like it. "It wasn't my forte," she says now.

About that time, her dad, Art, was thinking about selling up and retiring.

"I thought I should give running the nursery a go. I knew it was a great opportunity. I mean, not many people have the chance to walk into a working, successful business."

The problem was, her dad was not immediately convinced it was the right career for her.

"I don't think my dad thought I would stick with it. It took a couple of years before he saw my commitment, then we were away to the races. We started reinvesting and reinvigorating the business."

Over the last decade, Rebecca has moved the garden centre more upmarket.

"It's no longer a place where you have to wear your gumboots to walk around. You can wear high heels and slacks and come here and pick up something nice on your way to a friend's house. I have given the nursery a more polished look." A signature feature that her dad introduced that Rebecca won't be changing is the option for customers to use a golf cart to tour the nursery and pick out plant material.

"It was a brilliant idea when Dad did it and customers still love it, so we'll definitely keep it."

Today, Art's Nursery covers 10 acres and has another 30 acres available for growing plants. Rebecca says one of her ambitions is to create more covered space for people to shop in comfort when the weather is bad.

In 2007, Michael Kato took over running the family business, one of B.C.'s most well-known and successful wholesale nurseries that supplies garden centres across Western Canada and as far away as Ontario.

The nursery was started by Michael's grandparents in the 1950s and operated beginning in the 1970s for more than 40 years by his parents, George

and Sarah. Michael says the biggest surprise to his parents when he proposed taking over was that he didn't want the business for free.

"I guess they thought that I thought I was entitled to it. I'm not sure where they got that idea, but it took several years to get to the point where I managed to convince them that I was not a kid with a give-me, give-me, give-me attitude and that I didn't want it for free. Once that was understood, we sat down and started talking seriously."

Michael says earning his parents' trust and confidence was the next challenge.

"That trust was eventually expressed not in a verbal way. It showed itself in actions such as my father deciding he didn't have to come into the nursery to check on things. That was his way of saying he was confident it was running okay."

But times have changed between generations, says Michael, and the culture of the business is different today. "Realistically, my generation has to work a lot smarter than our parents did.

"For them, most of time hard work paid off. Now, it has to be hard work and smart work.

"My dad could have made 25 bad decisions and one good one and still be ahead.

"Today, I can make 25 good decisions and one bad one and it can put us back."

Michael says the last few years have been "a grind," mainly because of the cool, wet springs.

"People don't feel like being outside when it is cold and raining. If is it warm and sunny, they like to be out in the garden and then they will spend money. But these things change and I expect many good years ahead."

It was natural for Jennifer to end up in horticulture, having grown up surrounded by plants and watching her parents work each day in the nursery.

She completed a retail nursery management program at Kwantlen College and then worked for various leading garden centres and nurseries, including GardenWorks and Kato's Nursery here in B.C., as well as Sunnyside Nursery in Calgary and a garden centre in Holland.

With all that experience, it was no surprise that she was welcomed back with open arms when she returned to the family business.

Today, she describes herself as a "Jill of all trades," filling in where needed to ease the burden on her parents.

"I feel my strengths are that I am well rounded in my knowledge and experience. I have good plant knowledge and service skills and I understand the way the business works."

She oversees the sales of plants the nursery produces that are sold to other garden centres.

As for the future, Jennifer says she has no ambition to take over the business from her parents, but is content to continue working closely with them to make the business more successful.

At 24, Jordan is one of the youngest members of B.C.'s new generation of gardening specialists.

In 2007, he started KJM Country Gardens in the Southlands neighbourhood of Vancouver at the family home on a 1.2-acre plot owned by his mom, Lori Wotherspoon.

The decision to start the nursery came out of a family discussion that included Jordan's younger brother, Kenny, elder sister Melanie, and his mom.

"My mom was tired of her job as a nurse and we talked about how we could start a family business all together and came up with the gardencentre idea," says Jordan.

The nursery gets its name from the first initials the three siblings -Jordon, Kenny and Melanie -but Lori played a big part in getting things up and running.

"When Murray's Nursery closed we thought that was a signal that we should seize the moment to start a family business," she says.

"But we all realized we would have to make sacrifices together if we were to make it work."

Today, KJM has evolved into a popular destination home-based garden centre with chickens, goats and beehives contributing to the relaxed farmlike atmosphere.

Against a backdrop of towering poplar trees, the nursery makes the most of its natural setting.

"I think people like coming here because although it is right in the city, it has a unique country feel with people riding horses."

To get horticultural credentials, Jordan completed an intensive one-year landscaping program at Capilano College.

Today, he does all the buying for the nursery as well as organizing displays and taking care of the plants.

"I feel a little funny about saying this as a young guy, but I am blown away by the beauty of nature."

"It never ceases to amaze me. It is such a positive experience to be part of helping things to grow, especially plants that produce food. I feel so lucky to have found out so early, while I am still so young."

His plans for the future include opening a new KJM store at the refurbished market at New Westminster Quay. It will be called KJM Urban Gardens. It is expected to open next year.

GARY LEWIS, 35, OWNER OF PHOENIX PERENNIALS, 3380 NO. 6 RD., RICHMOND

Gary bought Phoenix Perennials Nursery when he was only 28, in 2004.

Since then, he has succeeded at building the nursery into one of the best known destinations for home gardeners and plant enthusiasts from all over the Lower Mainland.

At the time he bought the nursery, he was still completing his master's degree. "I heard about a little nursery for sale in March 2004 and within two weeks I owned it."

He took six months away from writing his thesis to run the nursery for a season, then returned and completed his degree.

Now 35, Gary believes he has built Phoenix Perennials into "the most exciting addition to the regional gardening scene in the last decade -if I may be so bold."

The nursery offers a wide range of perennials, including many cuttingedge new plants, as well as tried-andtrue favourites, and some rare and unusual specimens.

Gary has not only worked hard at gathering an exciting inventory of plants; he has developed relationships with local gardeners by speaking at clubs and conducting workshops.

"I did 27 workshops this year and I give 10 to 15 talks a year to garden clubs around B.C., Washington and Oregon."

He has also been very active online, producing an impressive website with monthly e-newsletter and searchable online database.

To add to his credentials, he has gone plant hunting to Chile and Taiwan with top American plantsman Dan Hinkley and is also a member of the Great Plant Picks committee, based in Washington state.

"I try to meet every gardener at their gardening level and help them to be successful in their gardening efforts.

"This year we are offering a mail order service across Canada and next year we will have an online shopping cart for online purchases."

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